Task 1: Read the Research Journals, articles, blogs etc.

related to the terms ‘talk’, ‘happy’,

and ‘therapy’. Establish a relationship between them by elucidation the interpretation by
empirical data gathered from the study reviewed.

In scientific literature, Happiness has been termed as Subjective Well-Being (SBW). They
define Subjective Well-Being as a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be
defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to
intense joy.

How to measure Happiness:

National Time Accounting can be used to compare groups of individuals, countries, and eras.
NTA provides a method for tracking time allocation and assessing whether people are
experiencing their daily lives in more or less enjoyable ways.

- In a recent study by Gillian M. Sandstrom and Elizabeth W. Dunn, they recruited people on
their way into a busy Starbucks with a $5 gift card. They asked some customers to have a
genuine interaction with the cashier, smiling and having a brief conversation. Others were told
to be as efficient as possible like Get in, Get out, and Go on with the day. Those who lingered (i.e.
smiled, made eye contact, and had a brief conversation) left the Starbucks feeling more
cheerful. These people experienced more positive effect than the people who were as efficient
as possible.

- A second study with the same method by them examined first-year college students. They kept
a track of their interactions using clickers. People expected the results with this group to be
stronger because they just start from a new set of relationships. Results showed that those
students who interacted with a lot of people were happier and felt a greater sense of
belongingness for their college community than those who interacted with only a few people.

Thus, they also found initial evidence that these effects were mediated by feelings of
belongingness.

Research says a strong sense of belonging is good. It’s not just good for our association’s
bank account; belonging is good for our members too. Eric Barker (a writer who pieces
together research about how to be awesome at life) reported on a few interesting studies
that make a case for belonging. “We need a community to feel good. And a community is
something we sorely lack in the modern world,” he says. Community involvement links to
happier, more empathetic, healthier, and more resilient people.

The lesson here is to have what some have called “social snacks”. Form social connections
when otherwise you might not. Or get to know other people in the world, even if it won’t
turn into a long-term friendship. By finding little moments to connect with people around
us, we perhaps find ourselves leading a happier, more positive life.

- In a study in Chicago (By behavioral scientists Nicolas Epley and Juliana Schroeder), few
commuters were asked to talk to strangers on the train, or sit quietly alone or do whatever
they normally do while commuting in a train. Then, they responded to a survey to tell how they
felt. It turns out that those who engaged with strangers had the most pleasurable experience
and those who’ve all alone in the train had the least enjoyable experience. These experiences
were compared with the other group, which did not participate, but, instead had to predict
how they might feel in each situation. And this group was talking about that the talking to the
strangers would be the least enjoyable experience by far.

The study is in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. So, despite being social animals and
enjoying social engagement, we avoid chatting with strangers. Why? Well, according to a
follow-up study, it's because we think the wrong way that strangers don't want to talk with
us. With a one way to get over this, is to practice this more often as we never know that
commuting could become a lot more enjoyable.

Talking Therapy is a broader term which covers ALL the psychological therapies that
involve a person talking to a therapist about their problems. The therapies differ as per the
problems and conditions (Taking individual differences into account too). It’s not only
Counselling but Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Couples
Therapy and Group Therapy which is counted as a part of talking therapies as per the
requirement and Preferences.

Thus, we can hypothesize with the study done in Chicago that: if we involve ourselves in
some sort of conversations, where the other person is more or less – a stranger to us; we’d
find It (the experience related with their talks ) more enjoyable, which would further lead to
better happiness.